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All- Over almost 8 years I have enjoyed sharing this with you and it has been fun. I’ve reached a lot of people and, based on various emails and comments to the blog touched a lot of people in a … Continue reading →

Michael Gallagher

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Posts tagged ‘enchilada’

FYI, this isn’t a totally unhealthy dish, it has tons of spinach in it and light cream cheese. Plus, the color comes from lots o’ yummy veggies: green onion, cilantro, spinach, and chiles.

It’s been a while since the Fajita Fiesta for One so we thought it was time to re-release our inner urges to Americanize Mexican food. We just can’t resist things like California burritos (carne asada, avocado and fries), nacho cheese sauce from a push pump, and apparently green and creamy enchiladas. If American’s love of cream and cheese and Mexico’s love of tortillas and cilantro had a baby, this would be it.

I made this with my mom during the holidays and have been thinking about it ever since. It was clearly love at first bite.

Mean Green Chicken Enchiladas

Sauce

1/2 12-ounce package fresh spinach

1/2 tablespoon butter

1/2 tablespoon all purpose flour

1/2 cup cream cheese

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 green onions, minced

1 4-ounce can diced green chilies, drained

1 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoons ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

Enchiladas

1/4 cup vegetable oil

8 6-inch corn tortillas

1 1/2 cups grated mild cheddar cheese

1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

sour cream and salsa to top it all off

How to:

Warm cream cheese and milk for 20-30 seconds and blend well. Melt butter in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add flour and stir mixture for about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in cream cheese and milk mixture. Simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in spinach, cilantro, green onion, chilies, cumin, coriander and red pepper. Use an immersion blender to puree (or put into a food processor). Season with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in heavy small skillet over medium-high heat. Dip tortillas in oil to soften, shake it off, and put onto paper towels to drain.

Let’s just pretend the Italian wine in the background is a Corona with a snazzy little lime in it. Thanks.

Combine cheeses in large bowl; set aside 3/4 cups for topping. Combine onion and cilantro in small bowl.

Place 1/4 cup cheese mixture in center of 1 tortilla. Spoon 2 teaspoons onion mixture over. Roll up tortilla. Place seam side down in large glass baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas, cheese and onion, using 1/4 cup cheese for each.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Sprinkle the top with with a happy trail of reserved 3/4 cup cheese.

Bake until the cheese browns a bit, about 25 minutes.

Enjoy your Mean Green Chicken Enchiladas with LOTS of loved ones, because it can sure feed all of them + some.

The only reason I haven’t made this dish for you before now is because it feeds an army and frankly, my freezer is full of things we’ve made too much of. Also, Chrissy and I don’t really have the eating habits of an army, maybe an army of mice, but not an army of humans. Here at the Cushing house we included a side salad with a cilantro-lime dressing and fed 5-6 people two nights in a row with this yummy casserole. The Chicken Enchilada Casserole could give you and yours lunch and dinner for a couple days, and trust me, you will not get tired of eating it! This recipe came straight out of mom’s Cooking Light cookbook:

The happy face is the household symbol for: “We will make this again and again and again, it’s a fav.”

Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; place over medium heat until hot. Add chicken; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from skillet; let cool. Shred chicken with 2 forks; set aside.

Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 40 minutes or until hot. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese mixture, reserved green onions, and reserved olives; bake an additional 5 minutes until the cheese is gooey, bubbly and golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving or it will all collapse onto itself! Serve with sour cream and salsa on the side.

*Little Yellow Note: You can assemble the casserole ahead of time; cover and chill in the refrigerator overnight, then bake at 350º for 1 hour or until bubbly. Or freeze casserole, thaw in refrigerator 24 hours, then bake for 1 hour or until thoroughly heated. These qualities make the dish an awesome gifted dinner for an elderly neighbor, friend in need, or a potluck!